Uniform code

In its election manifesto in 2014, the ruling BJP said it stood for a “uniform civil code, drawing upon the best traditions and harmonizing them with the modern times”.

To ensure that personal laws don’t conflict with various rights and provisions of the Constitution, these laws must first be “codified to the greatest extent possible”, the commission said. All i nequalities should be removed by bringing amendments, the report adds.

Women for instance must be guaranteed freedom of faith but “without any compromise on their right to equality”. Religious freedom and equality are both fundamental rights defined in Part III of the Constitution.

In a 2016 verdict, the Supreme Court struck down instant triple talaq, the Muslim practice of divorce, precisely on the ground that it violated women’s right to equality.

“Most countries are now moving towards recognition of difference, and the mere existence of difference does not imply discrimination, but is indicative of a robust democracy,” the commission said.

The commission urged that the legislature should first consider guaranteeing equality within communities, between men and women, rather than equality between communities.

“I am glad the law commission has endorsed my position. I have consistently been arguing that we cannot go for a uniform civil code at one go and the reforms should be piecemeal,” said Faizan Mustafa, vice-chancellor of NALSAR University of Law, Hyderabad.

“We need to reform Hindu laws, Muslim laws, Christian laws and Parsi laws etc. Otherwise, there will be a lot of debate and the issue will be hijacked by fanatics of all religions”.

Mustafa said “uniformity” in itself was not a “value” and what is needed is more just and gender-sensitive laws.

For instance, the law panel said, women, upon divorce, should get equal share in property acquired after marriage. “The availability of a no-fault divorce must accompany community of self-acquired property,” the panel said. It recommended that the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Special Marriage Act, 1954, the Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936 (for Christians) and the Dissolution of Muslim Marriages Act, 1939 ought to be amended to reflect this change. which has emerged as a militant hotspot in the Valley in recent years. As many as 33 policemen have been killed so far this year, including three on Eid, when policemen were visiting their homes despite an advisory that cautioned against such a move. About 1,600 policemen have died in J & K since armed insurgency broke out in 1990.

Kashmir remained paralysed for a second straight day because of a strike in protest against a petition in the Supreme Court against Section 35A of the Constitution whose hearing was eventually deferred till January by the court. Schools, universities, businesses and most offices remained shut even as government forces in riot gear patrolled deserted streets. Traffic remained off the roads and restrictions were imposed in some parts of the old city.

The Prime Minister has argued that the country remains in “perpetual election mode” and even the exercise of preparing the electoral rolls for the three-tier polls — municipal, state and country — consumes considerable time and money.

On Sunday, the TRS will hold a rally at Ibrahimpatnam to highlight the government’s programmes and achievements since it came to power in the newly created state in 2014.

TRS leader Palla Rajeshwar Reddy said about 2.5 million people are expected to attend the public meeting with party workers from all 31 districts of the state in full attendance. He added that KCR would present a “roadmap for TRS” for the assembly polls.

Perhaps with the elections in mind, the TRS government has in the past few months announced a slew of measures for the welfare of farmers. In the first week of August, it launched life insurance schemes for nearly 2.8 million farmers in the state.

The state government has paid more than Rs 600 crore to Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) as a premium for the scheme, which costs about Rs 2,271 per farmer.

In May, it launched a “crop investment support” initiative named Rythu Bandhu, that aims to provide Rs4,000 per acre each to land-owning farmers for rabi and kharif seasons.

KCR also does not want simultaneous elections with Andhra Pradesh in view of reports suggesting that the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) might join hands with the Congress for the assembly elections, upsetting TRS’ calculations in Telangana.

By advancing the assembly elections, the TRS leader said KCR will get enough room to maneuver during the Lok Sabha elections and enable him to take a call on having an alliance at the national level.

In recent weeks, the TRS has been warming up to the BJP. While the Prime Minister has been praising KCR, the TRS abstained from a no-confidence motion against the government and later supported NDA candidate Harivnash in the elections to the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson’s post.

KCR has also twice met the Prime Minister in the past two months,most recently on August 4.